Da Silva given honour to strike first shot at Olympic Golf

Aug 9, 2016: Asian Tour member Adilson da Silva has been given the honour of hitting the opening tee shot when golf makes a long-awaited return to the Olympic Games with the men’s first round on Thursday.

The Brazilian will be amongst a strong contingent of Asian Tour members teeing up in Rio de Janeiro. Da Silva will be in the first group out at 7.30am where he has been paired with Canada’s Graham DeLaet and Korea’s Byeonghun An.

Both DeLaet and An, who represented Asia in the EurAsia Cup in January, have strong Olympic connections with the former’s countryman George Lyon winning the Olympic gold medal in 1904, the last time golf was part of the Olympic programme and An’s parents being table tennis medalists at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

In total, 14 Asian Tour members are amongst the 60-men competing for gold, silver and bronze at the Olympic Games while five other Asian golfers will also be chasing for glory in Rio in the four-day strokeplay individual event.

Other top groupings will see Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat being drawn alongside Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Thomas Pieters of Belgium while reigning Asian Tour number one Anirban Lahiri of India will play the first two rounds in the company of Masters champion Bubba Watson of the United States and Germany’s Martin Kaymer, a former PGA Championship winner.

Thai ace Thongchai Jaidee, a three-time Asian Tour number one, will play alongside newly-crowned Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Rafa Cbarera Bello of Spain.

Other Asian Tour stars in the fray include current Order of Merit leader Marcus Fraser of Australia, countryman Scott Hend, Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, Malaysia’s Danny Chia, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda, Filipino Miguel Tabuena, India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang and Siddikur Rahman, who was the Bangladeshi team flagbearer at the opening ceremony on Saturday.

Amongst the medal contenders include 2016 Masters winner Danny Willet of Great Britain, former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose of Great Britain and world number seven Rickie Fowler of the United States.

Asian Tour Release